Closings

Severe Weather

Questions swirl around gas leak, evacuation

Published On: Feb 20 2013 09:29:17 PM CST

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -

In the wake of the fire that killed a woman, injured 15 others and destroyed J.J.'s Restaurant on the west edge of the Country Club Plaza, some are asking why the area wasn't evacuated sooner after a gas line was punctured.

Investigators said a contractor doing underground work for a cable company broke the line near 48th Street and Belleview Avenue just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. The gas ignited and exploded just after 6 p.m.

People who work and live in the area said they were smelling gas for at least an hour.

Dr. John Verstraete said everyone at his neighboring medical spa escaped the fire safely, but he wants to know why an evacuation order didn't come sooner. He said that he and his employees could smell gas from construction outside all afternoon.

"One of my employees went out there and told them, 'Hey, we smell gas,' and they said, 'Yeah, yeah, we know. We've got it' and just kind of laughed it off," Verstraete said. "And he came back in and said, 'That's nothing. One guy was smoking out there,' and we're like, 'Are you kidding me?'"

He said that happened five hours before the explosion. He said a member of his staff called in to report the leak about 3 p.m., but Missouri Gas Energy showed up just before 5 p.m.

Kansas City leaders dispute Verstraete's account, releasing their own timeline of events. The Kansas City Fire Department said it alerted MGE after receiving the first call at 4:55 p.m. The first MGE responder was at the scene about 20 minutes later. About 50 minutes later, six workers were at the scene using a backhoe to vent the leak and the explosion happened a short time later.

A former MGE employee who asked not to be identified said when there's a gas leak, company protocol is to evacuate immediately.

"As strong as that gas was and there was, like, an hour warning. That's why I don't understand why anyone was in any of those premises," the ex-employee said.

Copyright 2013 byKMBC.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Sunday it was "very alarmed" by reports of widespread doping by track and field athletes in major competitions including the Olympic Games and world championships.

The Obama administration will unveil a major climate change plan Monday aimed at a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's coal-burning power plants, a senior administration official told CNN.